Jeremy Clarkson

15 March 2015

Jeremy Clarkson is an interesting character, but it is unclear whether the Mr Clarkson we see on our television screens and read in his newspaper columns is himself or him acting the role of himself. Hopefully that convoluted sentence making me sound like a pompous pseud made sense.

What I find even more interesting is how passionately he is supported and disliked by so many people, but this is understandable, given he has become a representative figure for people to project their views and opinions. For some people, he is a dollop of commonsensical wisdom railing against the world which has gone politically correct, while others see him as an embodiment of the white middle-aged man who plays the maverick while being from a privileged background to spout inexcusable utterances of racism and sexism.

I do not have a strong opinion on this issue as to what should happen: I dislike some of his comments and acts, but my response is not to watch him on the television and read his articles. It is for the BBC to decide whether the fracas should lead to the axing of Mr Clarkson from Top Gear. One thing is however certain: whatever the decision, the BBC is going to face criticism. Keep Mr Clarkson and those who dislike him will be angry; drop Mr Clarkson and those who like him will be angry. The damages are more limited for Mr Clarkson, in that people who like him will continue to like him, and those who dislike him will continue to dislike him and he probably would not care.